How was the sample data stored in memory, and processed in terms of numeric values?In C/C++ terms did the companies terms did the company tend to store sample values as ints or floats?Did the samplers process the data as integer or floating point data?Was sample data stored as 16 bits, or a bit depth that matched the hardware?

I am just curious, because I just finished a Computer Hardware course, and I know these days we take floating point operations for granted in computers. However, I know even back then they were still a big deal, so I am just curious what the companies did with Sampler hardware to do the number crunching?

They were stored as integers. All samplers sample and store as integers. Computers sample and store as integers.

The samplers you mentions all had CPUs with 32-bit processing, but many of them only had a 16-bit data path (Motorola 68000) and no FPU, so the sounds were processed as integers when on the CPU.

Other operations, such as filtering, were done on dedicated VLSI chips- essentially custom built DSPs. (The notable exception would be the Emax I, which had analog filters). The EPS 16+ could actually load new routines onto its DSPs from disk (Waveboy effects). These chips were 16, 20, or 24-bit depending on the model under discussion. The chips still worked with the sound as integer data, more often than not. Often, the 'filter' chip and the 'effects' chip were separate... Ensoniq recycled their seperate effects chip into effects units.

With fixed-point processing you can use standard integer operations for the most part, and use software implementations of the operations that behave differently (multiply/divide etc) using simpler algorithms than software floating-point. The trade-off is less range and precision, but seeing as digital audio operates in a predictable, limited range that's not a great issue, and the precision is more than adequate given the quality of other parts of the signal chain at the time.